Tibetan Elements in Dongba and Daba Spirits’ Names

Abstract

Dongbaism and Dabaism are indigenous religions of the Moso people, who live on the cultural border between Han and Tibetan traditions in Southwest China. Besides their original cultural foundations, it is possible to notice Tibetan elements introduced into Dongbaism and Dabaism. The present study aims at an etymological analysis of the names of five representative symbols of Dongba and Daba doctrines, including: Tonpa Shenrab, Yung-Drung, Purzzee Samei, Haishee Bamei, and Garuda. Through the analysis of morphological structures, the author explains the assimilation of Tibetan linguistic elements in Dongba and Daba cultures and depicts the differences between the two branches of the Moso people’s religious traditions. Through an etymological interpretation of some local spirits’ names, the present research reconstructs the roots of local folklore beliefs in the light of a broader context. This philological work unveils the origin of the figures of mythical deities – and of their names – believed by local people to be the first Dongba/Daba priests from the Bon religion and suggests the possibility of a pan-ethnic belief in more remote times. This research also analyses the multiple linguistic layers in the different forms for Garuda, which reveal their ancestral links to the extinct Zhang-Zhung civilization.